Departmental Kudos

Please join us in congratulating Rafa Stavros Cottom on his selection as a Research Lead for the Governor’s STEM Scholars Program, organized by the Research & Development Council of New Jersey, a 501(c)(3) organization.  During the 2026-27 academic year, Rafa will mentor a team of high school...

Congratulations to Rafa Stavros Cottom for having been selected to participate earlier this summer in the International Heat Flow Commission’s second-ever Heat Flow Summer School in Izmir, Türkiye. Hosted by faculty from the GFZ Helmholtz Centre for Geosciences in Germany, the program provided...

Congratulations to Jarrod Burges and Zak Jibrin, who have each been named recipients of the IMA-NJU Student Award for IMA 2026, an honor established by Nanjing University to recognize outstanding student participants at this year's International Mineralogical Association General Assembly. IMA 2026 is...

Shaunna Morrison served on NASA’s Martian Dust Limit Working Group, which evaluated a proposed crew exposure standard for martian dust during future human exploration missions. Convened by NASA’s Office of the Chief Health and Medical Officer, the panel reviewed evidence from Mars rover...

Camilla Baumer has been honored as a recipient of the Geological Society of America’s prestigious Lipman Research Award, a distinction that recognizes outstanding graduate research in the geosciences. This award supports her innovative work investigating changes in sedimentary mercury and...

  Kate Hendrickson, a Ph.D. candidate in the Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences, recently led a Rutgers 4-H Teen Café program, "Mars Rocks: Studying Minerals with the Curiosity Rover." The interactive outreach event engaged 30 high school students in hands-on activities exploring planetary...

Associate Professor Dr. Katherine Bermingham has been elected to a multi-year leadership role for the prestigious Origins of Solar Systems Gordon Research Conference (GRC), serving as Vice Chair in 2027 and Chair in 2029. The Origins of Solar Systems GRC is a premier international forum dedicated...

We are pleased to recognize graduate student Michael Durcanin, who has received a research grant from the Geological Society of America in support of his work investigating post-rift uplift and erosion along the eastern North American “passive” margin. His project uses a comprehensive...